lördag 12 januari 2013

Fragrance of the week (2) 2013

Picture:Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky (Вацлав Фомич Нижинский) (1890-1950), 
in the ballet Afternoon of a Faun
Painting by Leon Bakst (1866-1924), Wikimedia Commons

Fragrance of the week is definitly the intriguing The Afternoon of a Faun from Etat Libre D'Orange. Like the moisten smell of a mossy forestfloor, in the shadow of the forest of confier,  a late summerday. The Faun also has the delicate smell of an antique, precious wooden box, very vintage in style. I have already been complimented when wearing The Faun, so he is really something special... If I had tested this fragrance two weeks ago, it had been included in my best of 2012 list. I also have to admit that I couldn't resist The Faun and a bottle from the Escentual 20% sale last week has just arrived. A  fragrance with this special character is a must have to me

Many thanks to Fragrantfanatic for the sample that introduced me to this new favourite :-).


fredag 11 januari 2013

Place des Lices – Twenties


Picture: Where there's smoke there's fire" by American artist Russell Patterson (1893-1977).
Full-length illustration of a fashionably dressed Flapper, 1920s. Swann Gallery, Library of Congress.
Wikimedia commons. This would be the perfect illustration for Habanita :-)
Twenties from the Saint Tropez based house Place des Lices is a fragrance that will capture the spirit of the nightlife of the roaring twenties. As an eveninginspired fragrance from that era it’s “of course” an orientalstyled perfume, but a soft oriental contemporary interpreation.

Twenties starts with rounded spices which creates a soft and smooth aura round the wearer. As Twenties continuies in its drydown a slight gourmand note, but not especeially sweet note, appears, probably the honey. The delicious spicy-honey accord is resting over a well balanced ambery-patchouli base.

To me Twenties is not a wild, outrageous perfume for decadant nightlife of the 1920s, in my book such fragrances are for example Habanita by Molinard, Arpége by Lanvin and to some extent also Guerlain Shalimar. To me Twenties is a straight forward, easy to wear, comfortscent, perfect for relaxing with a good book in front of the fireplace. As a soft, non-offensive, oriental, Twenties is also suitable for daytime officewear to lighten up grey, chilly autumn- and winterdays. Sillage is close and longevity good.

Twenties resembles many soft oriental fragrances, it doesn’t stand out but is on the other hand a representative, well-made and quite affordable example of the genre, a good soft oriental basic alternative for the fragrance wardrobe.

Rating: 3

Notes: Vetiver, pepper, cumin, patchouli, amber, honey

onsdag 9 januari 2013

Place des Lices - Fiordlatte

Picture: Summer Evening on the Souther Beach,
 oil on canvas by  Peder Severin Kröyer, 1893
Fiordlatte from Place de Lices starts a bit sharp with notes of green grass and some flowery notes. I bet I can smell a moderated galbanum, even if not mentioned in the notelist. When Fiordlatte settles a bit, a pleasant, soapy, glabanumlike, note appears. It’s similar to the “antique, bathroom, chalky” note that is also present, but more intense, in Vanille Tonka from Parfums de Nicolaï. This accord is fading, but not disappear completely, in a nice, a bit paper-dry in texture, white floral accord. Despite the “bathroom” vibe it’s not a watery floral of the kind that is en vouge by now for exemple Live in Love by Oscar de la Renta or Water Calligraphy from By Kilian. The white floral note feels more timeless and the dry white floral impression is more in the style of Un Amour de Patou by Jean Patou and Montale Crystal Flowers (even if rose centered) but subdued in comparasion.In the basenotes Fiordlatte becomes light musky and moistier. A slight sour note (in a positive way) which is present in many light rosefragrances becomes detectable and I think it’s the note of peony.

Fiordlatte is the perfect outdoor casualscent especially for spring and summer, preferably at sea as the dry white flowers will balance perfectly with the salty air by the seaside. Fiordlatte is also a nice casual or officescent when one has to be reminded of the lighter seasons of the year.

Rating: 3

Notes: Jasmine, cottonflower, peony, vanilla

måndag 7 januari 2013

Place des Lices – Pepper/Poivre

Picture: Piperaceae - Piper nigrum, Curtis’s botanical magazine,
 London 1832, Wikimedia Commons

My favourite from the house of Place des Lieces from what I have tested so far is the light and clean incensefragrance Pepper/Poivre which I reviewed in Swedish a year ago. Despite its name, to my nose Poivre is first of all an incense frgrance and second a pepperfragrance, but of course I’m no expert. Below is an extract in English of what I wrote about Poivre a year ago:

The Incense of Poivre
is high and clear, it’s not a heavy, dense church incense but more of the incense sticks burned outdoors in Asisa, perhaps outside a Buddhist temple high up in the Himalya. I think the incense note is reminiscent of a more modest and subdued version of the high and clean incense in Andy Tauers wonderful Incense Extreme. When it comes to Pepper / Poivre there is no risk of overdosing, which may occur in case Incense Extreme Pepper / Poivre also gives me associations to the wonderful interpretation of the air and surroundings in Bhutan, the wonderful Dzongkha by L’Artisan Parfumeur.

Pepper / Poivre, has a refreshing and almost cleansing effect. It is subtle and close to skin and fits perfectly in most settings during the day all year round. Can imagine that it is perfect in summer just as it feels like a welcome relief from all the spicy, sweet and mulled wine scents of the coming Christmas. Despite Pepper / Poivres lightness and transparency, it remains, although weakened, but unfragmented until the evening. Another plus with Pepper / Poivre is that it is a nichefragrance which is reasonable priced.

Rating: 4

Notes: Pepper, pink pepper, cummin, sage, leather, patchouli, musk, amber


lördag 5 januari 2013

Fragrance(s) of the week (1) 2013

Photo: Parfumista (c)

Almost every week there is a fragrance or fragrancestyle that I particulary crave. Maybe I wear the fragrance some day that particular week, just sniff it, tray it or just let the longing persist as I'm often totally off-season when it comes to what I crave and the season current. To examplify: The week before Christmas I suddenly started to long after the sparkling, grassy and green springlike Chanel No 19 Edt, this in the middle of the cold and darkest winter, with lot of snowing. The same phenomena, but in the opposite fragrancedirection, is happening in the middle of the summer, some years as early as around Midsummers Eve. Than in the warmth and brightness of the Nordic summer, I start longing for dark and deep fragrances as ambers, dark roses, ouds, patchouli. Another observation when it comes to my perfumecraving during the latest half year is an increasing need and appreciation for the classics as the classic Chanels, Guerlains, Rochas or Diors. When it comes tocontemporary perfumes, I prefer perfumes created in the classic style as the offerings of Puredistance, Parfums de Nicolï and Parfums MDCI or more complicated contemporary perfumes with many dimensions as the perfumes of Ramón Monegal, Amouage or Mona di Orio.

To conclude this philosophising: 1) Fragrancewise I'm often in the reverse season 2) Fragrancestylish the circle is completed, I'm back where it all started, with the classics or  classic styled, well-crafted fragrances.

For 2013 I will start to notice (and post) if there is a/some special weekly cravings. Here are my observations for the first week of January 2013:

- The longing for springfragrances has intensified. Today (chilly and grey outside) I'm wearing  the Guerlain iris/violet/mimosa/guerlinade classic Apres l'Ondee Edt and I'm constantly sniffing my wrists.

- The other perfume that influenced me this week and I really liked to wear at New Years Eve was a perfume that not belongs to any of the categories mentioned above: Miss Dior Le Parfum which IMHO is a well crafted, contemporary mainstream with some dept and body to it. Features that is becoming more and more rare these days,  both within mainstream and niche.

torsdag 3 januari 2013

Les Parfums Historiques (Maître Parfumeur et Gantier) - La Reine Margot

 Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre
Olja på trä av Francois Clouet
Bild:Wikimedia Commons

Summary in english, scroll down.
La Reine Margot är den andra doften i Maître Parfumer et Gantiers underlinje Les Parfums Historiques. I linjen utforskar man det historiska parfymeriet och har tagit fram två dofter dedikerade till två historiska personer - patchoullidoften Gerorge Sand och jasmin, ambra, myskdoften La Reine Margot. Dofterna som tagits fram liknar högst troligt de parfymer som de personer som stått som förebild för dofterna verkligen bar. I fallet George Sand har parfymören luktat på en liten parfymflaska som hängsmycke som varit George Sand och där känt de kvarvarande fragmenten av en patchoullidoft. I fallet drottning Margot (Margurite de Valois 1553-1615)  har man utgått från de ingredienser som löpanade beställts till det slott, d'Usson i Auvergne, där Margot på order av sin bror kungen, satt i ett slags husarrest under arton år. De dominerande ingredienserna är just jasmin, ambra och mysk och parfymen är blandad enligt den teknik som användes på femton-sextonhundratalen med ett fåtal ingedienser som interagerar.

De tre ingredienerna som används i La Reine Margot är av mycket hög kvalitet och man har låtit dess nyanser blomma ut på ett mångfacetterat sätt och det känns verkligen fascinerande att man kan få fram en sådan mångfald nyanser genom så få ingredienser.

Jasminen är stor, lortigt animalisk, pälsig men får på mig också djupt, mörkt, fruktiga nyanser med en liten kryddighet, ungefär som russin i glögg. På mig är det jasminen som dominerar i det närmaste totalt. De övriga två sekonderar, och är inte igenkänningsbara som separata noter. Deras roller verkar vara att ambran värmer och mysken binder ihop. Mysken bidrar antagligen också till lortigheten även om jasminolja i sig har en animalisk och lortig kvalitet. Jasminen ger i ett senare stdium också i från sig en gummiaktig, samtidigt lätt chokladig ton (troligen ambran) som jag inte känner igen från andra jasmindofter, kanske är det något som uppstår i kombination med de två andra ingredienserna.

Jag kan mycket väl tänka mig att en sådan här tung, mörk jasmindoft behövdes för att konkurrera med andra dofter och odörer som var en realitet i ett tidevarav där det var mer komplicerat att hålla sig ren och dessutom i kombination med tunga kläder med dito tyger som inte lät sig tvättas i första taget.

La Reine Margot sitter hela dagen även om jag inte känner den så tydligt på kvällen så gör omgivningen det. Herr Parfumista anser att det är tantvarning på doften citat "...och det är ju inte så konstigt om den nu är sedan femtonhundratalet".

La Reine Margot är en skickligt komponerad doft som fascinerar då den trots enkelheten i strukturen ger i från sig så många doftintryck. Spännande är också personen som är doftens förebild se http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margareta_av_Valois

Summary: La Reine Margot is created by perfumer Nicolas de Barry and inspired by the emancipated french/navarrian queen Margurite de Valois (1553-1615). The perfume is a part of the MPG Les Parfums Historiques-line. The predominant ingredients are jasmine, amber and musk and the perfume is mixed according to the technique used in fifteen-sixteen centuries with a few ingedients interacting. Despite the few ingredients La Reine Margot is a interesting blend that mediates images of the era of Margot. The typical dirty, animalic, musky jasmine of MPG is on spot recalling the smell of heavy clothing that not allow itselves to be washed in the first place. That combined with the (compared to todays standards) questionable hygiene routines. A well blended, skanky perfume in true MPG sprit that reflecting the life of Margot. And just as interacting with Margot, "her" perfum has to be worn with caution.

Rating: 4+

Notes; Neroli, bergamot, jasmine, musk, amber

tisdag 1 januari 2013

Happy New 2013!


Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)


I wish all Perfumelovers a Happy and wellscented 2013!

The fragrance of New Years Eve 2012 was nothing complicated, but very nice smelling:
Miss Dior Le Parfum - almost tobacconotes, some velvety, slight dried- fruity flowers over amber.
I think this is an excellent example that good fragrances could be created among "the mainstream", taking all the restrictions when it comes to the ingredients in to account.